Key State Races Typified By Massive Fund Raising

Gop Is Outspending Democrats Overall

October 03, 1999|By AMY GARDNER Daily Press

RICHMOND — Less than five weeks before voters decide which political party will control the General Assembly next year, state and national political organizations are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars - unprecedented sums - into a handful of key races across Virginia.

In nearly every case, Republicans - who hope to take over both houses of the state legislature for the first time this century - are out-raising and outspending Democrats, campaign finance reports show. Overall, Republican political action committees in Virginia have raised $4.8 million, while their Democratic counterparts have brought in $3.5 million. State and national GOP organizations together have sent far more money into the legislature's most hotly contested campaigns than have the Democrats.

"Both sides are taking these elections very seriously," said Mark A. Miner, spokesman for Gov. Jim Gilmore, who uses three political action committees to raise money. "There's a lot of effort, there's a lot of money, there's a lot of campaigning - and it's only the beginning of October. We have another full month of campaigning and grass-roots effort ahead of us."

Republicans are inundating campaign coffers in Hampton Roads, too. GOP candidate Tricia Stall, who hopes to unseat longtime Newport News Del. Alan A. Diamonstein, isn't close to outspending her opponent, who remains the top fund-raiser among all House candidates with $336,000 in donations. But Stall received nearly $28,000 from Republican PACs, politicians and other candidates just in July and August, according to the latest reports. That's nearly half the $68,000 she's grossed overall. A third candidate, independent Jessica Putnam Hughes, has raised $700.

In Hampton, the four-way race to fill retiring Democratic Delegate I. Vincent Behm's seat also has attracted the two major parties' big spenders. Democratic contender Jay Joseph received more than $12,000 from such sources in July and August. Most of it - nearly $8,000 - was from the PAC of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Joseph's Republican opponent, Phil Larrabee, took in more than $32,000 from major Republican sources this period. Givers include the state Republican Party, the state legislature's Joint Republican Caucus, a congressional political action committee run by Rep. Thomas M. Davis III of Fairfax, and the PACs of Gov. Jim Gilmore, Attorney General Mark L. Earley and former Gov. George F. Allen.

Without such major-party support, the two other candidates in that race, independents Rudy Langford and Ross A. Kearney, have only a fraction of the war chests of Larrabee and Joseph. Langford has raised just $2,100, according to reports; Kearney has grossed $14,000.

The figures used in this article reflect contributions made during July and August. The data were compiled from reports filed Sept. 15 by the Virginia Public Access Project, a consortium of newspapers including the Daily Press that maintains a database of campaign contributions.

In South Hampton Roads, Republican Thomas Wright of Lunenberg County, who is challenging 20-year state Senate veteran Richard J. Holland of Isle of Wight, collected more than $31,000 from major Republican givers in July and August - including a $20,000 gift from the state legislature's Joint Republican Caucus.

Holland did not fare so well this reporting period and actually trails Wright in his overall take - $95,000 to Wright's $103,000. He said he hopes for some party support between now and the election.

Craig K. Bieber, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, thinks differently.

"We've got enough money to get our message out in the races that matter, which is the bottom line," Bieber said. "A lot of these Republican contributions are feel-good contributions to candidates who don't have a chance to win. I guess they feel like they have enough money that they can do that. But we feel like we're targeting our resources more precisely. And in the races that matter, the ones that are truly competitive, we'll have enough money to get our message out."

Those races include the open House seat in Hampton, Bieber said, and also the battle between state Sen. Frederick M. Quayle, R-Chesapeake, and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Psimas of Portsmouth. Psimas has raised a total of $68,000, while Quayle has raised $169,000.

Not too long ago - even in this decade - membership was much more exclusive in the so-called "$100,000 Club," the domain of those legislative candidates who raise at least $100,000 during a single election cycle. Today, it is almost more an oddity not to raise that much. Major donors, such as the National Republican Congressional Committee, are doling out five-figure gifts to plenty of candidates - including an astonishing $40,000 to Sen. Jane H. Woods of Fairfax, who faces a tough challenge from the seat's former occupant, Democrat Leslie Byrne.